Am.  Jour,  Pharm. 
Oct.,  1921. 
Smell-Shock 
683 
SMELL  SHOCK. 
Ralph  R.  Foran,  P.  D. 
Smell  is  the  sense  by  which  odors  are  perceived.  We  know 
that,  in  man,  the  organ  of  smell  is  the  olfactory  bulb,  located  at  the 
anterior  extremity  of  the  olfactory  tract  of  which  it  is  an  enlarge- 
ment, the  olfactory  tract  being  a  prolongation  of  the  cerebrum.  We 
further  know  that  the  development  of  this  bulb  bears  direct  relation 
to  the  acuteness  of  smell.  But  of  the  mechanism  of  olfaction  we 
know  very  little.  Various  theories  have  been  proposed  to  explain 
the  why  and  wherefore  of  smelling,  but  all  of  them  have  largely 
failed  to  prove  anything.  It  is  one  of  the  many  unsolved  riddles  of 
life  processes  and  we  will  have  to  take  our  first  premise  as  a  matter 
of  faith. 
The  sense  of  smell  is  widely  distributed  throughout  the  animal 
kingdom.  The  lower  animals,  especially  those  breathing  in  water, 
become  cognizant  of  the  presence  of  odorous  matter  near  them 
without  touch,  vision  or  hearing,  and  it  is  supposed  that  they  do  so 
by  some  sense  of  taste  or  smell,  or  a  combination  of  both.  Pharma- 
cists may  recall  the  sale  of  oil  of  rhodium,  reputed  by  some  fisher- 
men to  be  an  "added  inducement"  for  fish  which  are  otherwise  shy 
of  the  bait.  Most  birds  are  probably  without  the  power  of  smell,  and 
in  some,  such  as  the  frigate  bird,  the  nostrils  are  obliterated.  An  in- 
stance is  reported  of  three  or  four  hens  picking  over  a  rubbish  heap 
on  which  some  calcium  carbide  had  been  thrown,  and  while  the  place 
reeked  of  acetylene  the  hens  did  not  seem  to  mind  it.  Dogs,  which 
are  primarily  dependent  upon  smell  in  their  daily  life,  appear  to  be 
able  to  isolate  a  single  smell  component  within  a  highy  complex  mix- 
ture. The  fondness  of  cats  for  catnip,  while  unexplainable,  is  an 
indication  of  their  acuteness  of  smell.  In  man  the  sense  of  smell  is 
very  feeble  and  imperfect  in  comparison  with  that  of  many  animals, 
especially  of  the  carnivores,  which  pursue  their  prey  by  scent, 
although  it  is  declared  that  the  half-savage  Ainu  of  North  Japan  can 
track  game  like  a  dog,  by  the  nose  alone.  James  Mitchell,  the  Eng- 
lish blind  deaf-mute,  recognized  his  friends  when  they  came  into  a 
room,  simply  by  their  smell.  Bucklan,  the  geologist,  when  riding 
once  with  some  friends  and  the  party  lost  their  way  and  were  over- 
taken by  night,  alighted  from  his  horse,  picked  up  a  handful  of 
earth,  smelled  it  and  at  once  declared  they  were  near  Uxbridge.  He 
